The Wolf on Sodor (B1 of Series)
by TailsTheDankEngine
Summary: In the first book of my unnamed series, Gordon has been turned into a chicken and has gained the assistance of a wolf who was once someone else, but can't remember who he is. Gordon now wishes to turn back and help his new friend. Meanwhile James, fed up with always getting dirty, seeks to find some way to remain spotless forever only to get more than he asked for.


Prologue

* * *

It was quite a noisy night on the Island of Sodor. Crickets and cicadas

chirped and buzzed like there was no tomorrow. Animals could be heard running through the brush as owls hooted and snatched them in swift motions. Gordon was returning from his evening express run when his driver commented on the commotion.

"I've never heard the night be this loud. Have you, Gordon?" he asked the grumbling engine.

Gordon declared "If these animals don't stop chattering I shall never get any sleep!" He then muttered "Never liked those little things. They cause nothing but trouble."

His fireman said "It may be because of that meteor shower. I heard that dogs know when earthquakes are coming and bugs freak out before a storm. Wouldn't be hard to believe that they sense meteors, too. It's like they have a sense of the weather we humans, and engines, don't."

Gordon scoffed and said "Don't be ridiculous! The only things that animals sense is if they're hungry. Animals only do things to get food."

His fireman said "I wouldn't underestimate them, Gordon. They know things that we can't understand. They feel things that we don't."

Before he could elaborate his driver exclaimed "Look! The meteor shower's starting!"

The meteor was a gorgeous sight to behold. It made a magnificent reddish pink streak across the sky and seemed to be shining like a firey star. Gordon decided to stop just to watch the brilliant masterpiece while it lasted. After watching it for what felt like ten minutes the meteor never seemed to burn in the atmosphere. It instead seemed to be falling down, and fast.

His fireman and driver tried their best to start Gordon up again, but the brakes were stuck. His driver cursed under his breath and attempted to move the brake, but it didn't budge. Gordon's fireman called out to Gordon, but he didn't respond. Almost as if he didn't hear. As Gordon's driver continuously attempted to get Gordon to move, his fireman tried to open his firebox, but it was clamped as tight as a safe. This time his driver called out to him, but Gordon still didn't answer. Now they knew that something was wrong with Gordon. They quickly exited his cab to get closer to him

They saw that he was still looking at the meteor, but something was wrong. His eyes were the same pinkish red as the meteor's glow. Before they could try to snap him out of his trance everything became washed in the light of the meteor. They only had seconds to run before it impacted the ground behind them. The force of the impact launched them ten feet away and they blacked out.

When they woke up they were in the middle of the tracks. It was still night time, and all was quite. There was no sign of Gordon anywhere. His fireman asked his driver "What... where's Gordon? And what was all that?"

Before his driver could answer a raspy yet feminine voice answered from inside the wood "I may be able to answer that."

Gordon's driver asked "Who's there? Where's Gordon at?"

After he asked, a humanoid creature casually walked from out of the bushes. From the darkness they could see it had cow legs and and an utter, scraggly, short, grey hair, black ram horns, and eagle claws instead of hands. In her right hand she held a blue rooster by its neck.

Gordon's driver asked as calmly as he could "Who are you, and where's Gordon at?"

The creature smiled, her jagged, rotting teeth barely visible in the moon's light. "I am just a lowly immortal being, and this is I believe who you're looking for."

It was Gordon's fireman's turn to ask questions "You're... joking? Right?"

The creature cocked the place on her forehead where an eyebrow would've been if she were human and smiled again. She said to the chicken "Speak, mortal fowl."

It let out nervous clucks as it slightly twitched its limbs. Upon closer inspection they could see that the pattern on the chicken's feathers beared semblance to Gordon's paint job.

The creature said "Can you understand him? No. Of course you can't. Only magic creatures can understand him now." The creature let out a giggle before continuing "I like this one. I want to keep him." Gordon's driver, having enough of the game, exclaimed "Enough! Give him back and leave us alone!"

The creature said back in a sarcastic tone "Gladly. I'll also turn him back to normal, leave, and never return." The creature cut the tone and put her hands on her bony hips with the chicken that was apparently Gordon still in hand. "Do you think I'm just going to do something because you told me to? You didn't even say please. Now leave before you suffer similar fates to your pet!"

The creature pulled out her clawed hand like a police officer would and created some kind of invisible force that pushed them both back several feet, making them land face-first into the tracks. Without question they ran away into the night.

Anastasia lifted the chicken's head to her face and said "So, you're name is Gordon, my little familiar?"

The once proud and strong engine spat "I am no one's pet! Release me at once and turn me back!"

The monster pulled his face so close to her's that he could smell that her breath smelled like the worst case of boiler sludge ever. She whispered in his ear "That's not how I fly. If you want to maintain a shred of your dignity, then do as I say when I say without question? Simple enough, Gor-dun?"

Gordon snapped "I'll never obey you, demon."

The demon, unphased by the insult, lifted him away from her face and plucked off one of his tail feathers. Gordon, having never experienced such pain, winched and cried out. She dropped him to the ground like he was a hot object and kicked him up on his feet. Gordon barely managed to create a natural gait and did moreso a speedwalk than a run into the forest.

The creature watched in amusement and exclaimed to him "Go on ahead and run! Go on! Go on and live as the beasts do! Run as far as away from humanity as you want! I'll always find you!"

When Gordon made it to the bushes he had to sit down and rest. When he was a train he never had to lift anything upwards, much less his own body weight. Suddenly, he heard the screech of a barn owl as a pair of clawed feet barely missed him and landed into the rocks next to him. He immediately got up again and ran as fast as his sore, scrawny legs could carry him.

Fortunately, he was close to Farmer McCole's farm. Unfortunately, a hungry fox was prowling the area and saw a large, delicious rooster running around in the open practically begging to be eaten. The fox saw this as the perfect meal for the night. He immediately started chasing Gordon. As Gordon ran he exclaimed "Why can't things go right for me tonight?" As Gordon stumbled and tripped the fox zipped and snapped, but could never quite grab him.

After this went on for seemingly hours a large shadow leaped from the brush and pounced on the fox. It was a wolf.

The mighty beast turned his head to Gordon and said in a voice that sounded somewhat familiar "Run."

He didn't take any chances at obeying the wolf. He ran as far as his aching legs could carry him to Farmer McCole's old chicken coop.

There he said to himself "OK, Gordon. You've been turned into a chicken by a meteor that turned into a demon woman, almost gotten yourself eaten twice, and only survived the second time because a wolf of all creatures subdued the thing that tried to eat you and told you to run all in the span of an hour or so. Am I missing anything else?"

He sighed "If only I could call this all a dream. I wish this were a dream. What's next? Werewolves?"

When he heard the creak of the coop doors he immediately shut his beak. The wolf that saved him earlier poked his head in. Gordon hardly dared moved or peeped. The wolf asked "Are you in here? I don't want to eat you. I just want to talk."

Gordon asked, still sticking to the shadows "What do you want?"

The wolf replied "You're... like me, right? You're not a real chicken?"

Gordon said "I am Gordon. I am-er-was the grandest engine in all of Sodor. Now I'm just a stupid chicken thanks to that demon that fell from the sky."

The wolf's face lit up a little "You mean the bright space rock that turned into that monster woman? I think that light made me remember myself a little."

Gordon asked "Remember yourself? A little? What does that mean?"

The wolf said "When that meteor was falling from the sky and I looked at it, something from the energy made some of my old memories return to me. I remembered that I wasn't a wolf, and I used to have friends who weren't wolves. I can't remember who or what I was, though. When I saw you getting chased by that fox I knew you were like me, so I helped you escape. Now I want you to help me."

Gordon revealed himself from the darkness and asked "How can I possibly help you when I'm like this?"

The wolf said "I need you to find us help. Wolves aren't exactly dogs. Humans don't often trust us all that much. You are a chicken. I don't remember many people being scared of chickens, but my mind is still a little foggy."

Gordon said "I remember that the demon woman said that only magic creatures can understand me. I don't think many humans are magic, much less anyone like Sir Topham Hat. I don't know anyone who could be in the slightest bit magic. This is the first time I've ever been in this sort of thing."

The wolf said "What about those metal things with grey faces? Surely they're magic, are they?"

Gordon hesitated to answer. He never thought about if he and all the others were magic. He never needed to ask about how he was born, if he was born, since it never was relevant in his mind or in conversation. Now that he thought about it, it only made sense that he and the others were, in some degree, magic.

He said back to the wolf "I think we may be magic. I suppose I could try talking to Edward or Thomas or whoever comes down to this farm."

The wolf seemed to try his best to smile as he said "Excellent! It's quite late, so we should try and get rest."

With that the wolf turned, poked his head out of the coop, then raced into the nearby woods. Gordon, feeling some level of reassurance, fell asleep in a nesting box and had a good night's rest.


End file.
